Tranquille Ecological Reserve #29 Warden’s Report for 2012 by Joan Best

Ecological Reserve Name; #29, Tranquille.     Report Date; November 30, 2013
Warden’s name; Joan Best.      Number of volunteer hours logged; 40         Mileage; 400 kilometres
Extent of the Reserve visited; Not yet in its entirety.  Initially, almost all of my time was spent on fence repair.  After the Kitamuras became wardens, more exploration was carried out.  Purpose was to become familiar with the Reserve’s varied topography and relevant flora and fauna.
Plant and animal species observed; bighorn sheep and deer only animals seen but coyotes and bears are known in the area as are rattlesnakes.
New species observed; none.                    Public access issues; none.

Signage; signs on the west fence have been peppered with shotgun pellets; others OK

Maintenance issues; first concern was the state of the fence but, thanks to thorough repair (done in   2012), the fence is now in good shape though some work remains to be done.  Wardens will attend to replacement of some droppers in the eastern section of the south fence.  However, some day, posts in the upper section of the east fence will probably have to be replaced.
Visitor activities;
•    Took a small group of First Nations children on a brief tour.
•    Mike Ryan, Research Ecologist, conducted a tour of Southern Interior Weed Committee staff, Park Wardens, visiting Naturalists and wardens on a plant identification tour.
•    Occasional interested naturalist also on walks.
Wardens’ activities;
•    Mostly walking the entire Reserve, some areas yet to be explored.
•    Biggest task was removal of an old exclosure reputed to have been set up by scientists from UBC many years ago.  Barbed wire enclosed about an acre but was destroyed by fallen pines and posed a hazard to wildlife.  Over several visits, we removed as much as possible and eventually brought all the rolls out and turned them in to the scrap metal dealer.
•    Checking the fence and making repairs to same, as noted.
•    Participated in a transect-laying exercise and a field trip to ID plants.
Wardens’ proposals/suggestions re management, research, public presentations, etc.:
•    Management; although most Reserves have only 1 warden, this one is very public and needs to be closely watched, hence it has three wardens.  As yet, we have not set up a schedule nor decided whether we always visit as a group or individually.
•    Research; research has been conducted in the Reserve for many years.  None ongoing.  Old sites are in need of being cleaned up.  We would appreciate having records of the research done in the past.  We have the results of research conducted after the controlled burn.  Alan Vyse’s research was presented to a Naturalist Club meeting and was very well done but we have no tabulation of it for our binders.  However, this was carried out at other sites as well, the ER being only one of several studied.  We would like to be advised of any future research plans.
•    Public visits to the Reserve;  only those noted under visitor activities.  We are publishing, in the Naturalist Club newsletter, a series of articles on Ecological Reserves whose wardens are or were members of the Club.  To date, articles on Soap Lake and Tranquille have been published and an article on Skwaha lake is being worked on.  Skihist and McQueen Creek yet to come.